SCRANTON, Pa. — Walter Pasiak never acted his age. In his late 90s, he seemed like a man decades younger.
But at 19 years old, he had to grow up quickly. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
"I remember vividly, coming out of the mess hall...after having breakfast. And the planes coming over Pearl Harbor, and when the gasoline storage blew up, we all went to the supply room to get whatever weapons were available to fire at any aircraft coming over," Pasiak recounted in a 2017 interview with Newswatch 16.
Walter Pasiak spent his later years talking about his Pearl Harbor experience that was just the start of his 22-year career in the Navy.
Pasiak passed away Sunday at the age of 98. He contracted COVID-19 last fall, and friends say he struggled to recover.
For the past few years, Pasiak was the only living Pearl Harbor veteran from Lackawanna County. There were 108 total, now memorialized on a plaque at the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton.
"His name will be here, and we will be remembering him as long as we're here," said Pat O'Malley of the Lackawanna County 9/11 Committee.
O'Malley and Charlie Spano helped to compile the names on the plaque. When they found Pasiak, they found one of the only remaining firsthand accounts of the Pearl Harbor attacks.
"Very sad that he's gone. It's the closing of a door to an era that is rapidly fading into history. We don't want their sacrifice to be diminished or forgotten," Spano said.
Other veterans told Newswatch 16 Pasiak's passing only highlights the need to honor men like him while they're still here and continue to tell their stories after they're gone.
"It's a sad day for all of us veterans. I hope that any living family members or friends of his will realize that he will never be forgotten; we will always carry his name with us," said VFW Post 25 Commander James Kuchwara.